Abandoned
by BloodRuby
Summary: It was a word that described her to a T.  Sakura-centric, Sakura & Team-7


**Title:** Abandoned**  
>Summary:<strong> It was a word that described her to a T.**  
>Paring:<strong> Sakura-centric, Sakura-team 7**  
>Genre:<strong> Angst, hurt/comfort**  
>Rating:<strong> Mild due to some course language**  
>Disclaimer:<strong> Do not own Naruto

A·ban·doned adj  
>1. Left empty because of not being used or lived in anymore<br>2. Left alone without being cared for or supported  
>3. Without restraint or self-control<p>

Encarta® World English Dictionary © 1999 Microsoft Corporation.

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><p>Abandoned<p>

Sakura looked at the word innocently written onto a page of her dictionary. She wondered what the person who discovered the word felt when they realized that, that was what they were. Did someone they love leave them? Was he or she left behind? Did they feel as if no one was there for them? Had they no other choice but to stand by and watch the backs of those who he or she cared for walk away? Were they left completely and utterly alone? Were they left broken and smashed into tiny little pieces with no one coming to help he or she pick up the pieces of their torn hearts and ripped apart lives?

If they did then Sakura had something in common with them.

She knew what it felt like to watch someone she loved-was _still_ in love with-walk away from everything and everyone he knew, from Konoha, from his best friend-rival-_brother_ who understood his loneliness, from Kakashi-sensei who saw so much of _himself_ in him, and from her-his ex-fan girl, teammate, then friend, then the girl who was _in_ love with him-with nothing but a messily _thank you_. She watched as Kakashi-sensei, who never really taught her anything or help her discover something about herself that she did not know except for the fact that she had perfect chakra control and those who abandoned their teammates were worse then trash, take up his ANBU uniform again because _his_ favorite student was _gone_ and he had _no_ _reason_ to be a sensei anymore. She watched as Naruto, who had _so_ _much_ hope and faith and believed in the fact that _his_ love for his friends helped him become stronger _everyday_, blame himself for not being able to bring back his best friend-rival-_brother_ but then left with Jiraiya-a legendary Sannin, the toad sage-for a three year training excursion. She could do _nothing_ but watch as team-7 fell apart.

And she _hated_ it. She _hated_ how one by one they left _her_ behind. She _hated_ how it made her feel _weak_, _useless_, and a _burden_. Most of all she _hated_ how she felt _worthless_, _unwanted_, _alone_, and _heart broken_.

_Abandoned._

They had left her alone to fend for herself and find her own path. It honestly didn't surprise her because she _knew_ she was the weakest link of the team, that Naruto and Sasuke never took her seriously, that Kakashi never bothered teaching her the same things he taught the boys, and the fact that she really _was_ the weakest link. But wasn't the whole point of being weak to _learn_ to become strong and to be _taught_ how to keep that strength going? She didn't know _what_ Kakashi-sensei expected from team-7 but it broke her heart to know that the only one he had _any_ hope in-if there was anything to hope _for_-had and always _will_ be Sasuke. A sense of injustice, hatred, and rage had been implanted into her heart…Kakashi-_sensei_ had abandoned _her_ from the _start_.

Sasuke had never cared about the team because all he _ever_ thought about was _revenge_. He was a young boy who lost his family because his brother wanted to _test his capacity_ or so Itachi had said along with the words "_You've always wanted to surpass me. That's why I'm going to let you live… if you wish to kill me, then hate me, despise me… and by all means flee, cling to your wretched life._" Sasuke was haunted with nightmares about the night of his clan's massacre and the night where his life took a turn for the worse. He _drowned_ himself into his goal of avenging his clan and later resurrecting the Uchiha's. But revenge had taken a back seat for a little while as he began to _live_ and _forget_ about his revenge when apart of team-7 but then the chunnin exams happened, Orochimaru happened, and again life was turned upside down. He left and team-7 was no more.

Naruto had _fought_ to get Sasuke back, along with _Neji_, _Chouji_, _Shikamaru_, _Lee_ and _Kiba_; he had promised her even. Yet he came back to Konoha tired, sweaty, dirty, _broken_ with no Sasuke in sight. It had broken her _own_ heart because she knew how _much_ getting Sasuke back meant to him and knowing that _he_ had _failed_ made him want to give up, an unusual concept because this was _Naruto_, the boy who never gave up _ever_. Kakashi wasn't in the picture because he too had _failed_ but Sakura thought that Kakashi never really tried as hard because Kakashi had failed _the_ _second_ he only gained interest in training Sasuke. That was when Naruto left with Jiraiya. Unlike Kakashi, Jiraiya _was_ going to be a sensei to Naruto and _teach_ him everything he could because Jiraiya had _always_ believed in Naruto and he owed it to Naruto's parents to be there for their son whenever he _needed_ it. Naruto left with promises Sakura didn't believe in anymore. To her promises became nothing but empty words.

Sasuke was gone, Naruto left, and Kakashi was never there.

She was alone now. Left to fend for her self.

She remembered those nights where she cried herself to sleep because the world was just so fucking _unfair_ and _cruel_. She wondered where team-7 went wrong and couldn't stop herself from thinking, _"maybe this was my fault" _or _"maybe it's because I just wasn't strong enough."_ Whatever the reason was team-7 broke apart and she was left with all the tiny fucked up pieces to mend herself.

Then one day Sakura had, had enough. She grew _tired_ and _angry_ of watching everyone's backs and decided that if _they_ were going to leave _her_ behind then _she_ would stop chasing them and follow _her_ own path. And so she _begged_ on hands **and** knees for Konoha's new Hokage to take her as her new apprentice and Tsunade _seeing_ a younger version of herself _in_ Sakura said **yes** and so Sakura set about forging her _own_ path with her _own_ two hands. Soon she became known as Tsunade's apprentice and one of the best medic-nins the world has ever seen, second _only_ to her master, and she was _proud_ because she did this on her _own_. And soon the shadows of Sasuke and Naruto's backs disappeared and she only saw herself standing _tall_, _strong_, and _proud_. Tsunade-shishou gave back to her something that Sakura had stopped believing in years ago.

_Hope._

Along with hope came the discovery of her_ inner_ and _outer strength_, _perseverance_,_ determination_, and her _ambition_. Soon she was a well-known Kunoichi and she gave all the credit to Tsunade-shishou, who _refused_ to accept credit because all she said she did was _guide_ her and give her the tools to become the person she _is_ today. The _injustice_, the _hatred_, and the _anger_ she felt at Kakashi not taking her seriously disappeared because _she_ had found a teacher who _saw_ the potential in her and if it weren't for Kakashi not being a teacher to her she would have never found the _strength_ or the _courage_ to approach Tsunade and _beg_ her to teach her. The heartbreak she suffered at the words and desertion of Sasuke was _gone_ as she finally left her shallow-headedness behind and _saw_ things she overlooked before for the _first_ time. Her disbeliefs in Naruto's hope for the _future_ and his promises that team-7 would become _a_ _team_ again were giving her hope that _yes_ team-7 _will_ become a team again. And she vowed to herself that she would _help_ Naruto, _stand_ by him, and _fight_ with him to bring their wayward teammate back home where he _belonged_.

Abandoned.

It was possibly the best thing that could have happened to her because it helped her _grow_. It helped her _realize_ that yes she may have been left behind but it didn't mean that she _couldn't_ change her path, that she _couldn't_ use the time she had to _continue_ that growth, and soon she didn't feel so abandoned because the breaking apart of team-7 felt more like a _journey_, a journey where each member left to go discover _themselves_. It _wasn't_ the end of the world, it _wasn't_ the end of her, and it definitely _wasn't_ the end of team-7. It was just an intermission, a break, and a temporary one at that. Sakura wasn't as alone as she thought she was before because she had _friends_, she had her _shishou_, she had her _inner strength_, her _hope_ in the future, her _belief_ that team-7 would _one day_ be a team again. And this time she wouldn't _be_ weak, she wouldn't _be_ shallow, she wouldn't _be_ a burden.

She was strong _damn it_ and she would _show it_!

This time around _she_ would make Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi watch _her_ back.

Sakura looked back down at the word and its definition and thought that even though abandoned was a word of pain the person who discovered the word didn't fully understand what abandonment really, _truly_, meant. Yes it meant you were left _behind_, that the people you cared for _walked_ away and _left_ you to your own devices, and that the people who meant _everything_ to you walked away without looking back _once_. But what this person failed to _see_ is that the word abandoned could mean that _you_ walked away from the person you _were_ in order to grow into the person _you_ were meant to _become_. It could mean that _you_ abandoned your _old_ life of being _weak_, of being _scared_, of being _terrified_ to move on from your _past_ and step forward to your _future_. Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi weren't the _only_ ones who abandoned her; she had abandoned her _old_, _immature_, _crybaby_ self.

Sakura smiled as she closed the dictionary and set it back onto her bookshelf. She wasn't afraid of a word innocently written onto a page of her dictionary because she wouldn't _let_ _it_ scare her and besides abandoned to her meant _change_; change from the _old_ to the _new_, and from the _past_ to the _future_. Abandoned wasn't such a scary concept for her because she was no longer _lost_, because she _found_ herself, and most importantly she became a _new_ and _better_ person who was not _afraid_ of standing alone because she never really was. Sasuke would be _free_ from his haunted past, Naruto would come back _stronger_, _better_, and more _determined_ than ever to bring his lost best friend-rival-_brother_ home, Kakashi would remember that he had _three_ students and not _one_ and he would come back to become the sensei of the _new_ and _improved_ team-7, and Sakura herself will show _all_ three that she was _strong_, that she was a _fighter_, and that she was _not_ someone they could _ignore_ any longer.

Yes she would prove to them-_her boys_-that _she_ was no longer the _same_ weak twelve-year-old crybaby she used to be, that she was no longer that _weak_, _immature_, and _shallow_ girl any longer. Sasuke, Naruto, Kakashi, and her were taking time apart to _grow_, to _learn_, and to _discover_ things that only they themselves _could_ discover. _Their_ defining moment would be when the _new_ team-7 came together. Until then Sakura went on cleaning her house, training with Tsunade-shishou, working in the hospital, and going on missions, _waiting_ for the day Naruto came back from his training with Jiraiya, _waiting_ for the day Kakashi-sensei _finally_ came to terms and _forgave_ himself for supposedly _failing_ Sasuke, Naruto, and _most_ of all her, and she _waited_ for the day that Naruto, Kakashi-sensei, and her went after Sasuke and brought him _home_ where he _belonged_ and where he was always _meant_ to be. All there _was_ left to do now was patiently bide her time until that day because something in her told her that, that day was nearer then she thought it was.

After all abandoned was just a word.

And this, this was life.

…..

"_Sticks __**and**__ stones __**may**__ break __**my**__ bones but __**words**__ will __**never**__ define __**me**__."_

…..

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><p><strong>Authors corner:<strong>

It took me two days to write this but I'm proud of this.

The reason why I wrote about this word is because I felt that abandoned was exactly what Sakura was but not only did she get left behind by Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi but Sakura abandoned her old self and gained the strength and courage to become a new person. I think out of all the Naruto characters Sakura took the biggest leap to become a new person. She was a weak, frightened, shallow, and short sighted girl who cared about nothing but trying to get Sasuke's attention and she herself admitted that that's what she used to be but she changed all that by taking a risk and begging Tsunade to take her as an apprentice and therefore she abandoned all her fears, her weaknesses, her shallow-headedness, her short-sightedness, and her excuses about why she was weak.

Sakura abandoned all her weaknesses and became a strong person.

…..

The rhyme at the end is an old nursery rhyme and there are two versions of it.

Version 1: "_Sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me."_  
>Version 2: <em>"<em>_Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me."_

I thought that the version I put fit in better and plus I actually like the version I put up more then the actual version's.

I put my heart into this story and I hope you all enjoyed reading this just as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Comments and criticisms welcomed!


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